When are you ready to start working?
interpolator
Hey!
How do you know when you're ready to start working in the industy?
I've been wanting to work in the games industry for as long as I can remember, and a few years ago I narrowed it down to Art. But there's this overhanging fog of doubt that I can't seem to clear. I have firm grasp of how getting the job works, portfolio is everything, but having a nice portfolio doesn't necessarily mean you can work, right?
I dread that I would get a gig where I'm asked to perform a task I've never done before. And the chance of that is pretty damn high, because that's essentially what any creative job is about. Problem solving.
There's almost an infinite amount of things that I've never modelled, painted or sculpted. So it's impossible to be ready for whatever gets thrown at you.
What if you get tasked with a texture and you simply can't paint it?
What if your sculpting is actually really slow compared to industry standards?
There's so many parameters, how can you possibly know when you're ready?
How do you know when you're ready to start working in the industy?
I've been wanting to work in the games industry for as long as I can remember, and a few years ago I narrowed it down to Art. But there's this overhanging fog of doubt that I can't seem to clear. I have firm grasp of how getting the job works, portfolio is everything, but having a nice portfolio doesn't necessarily mean you can work, right?
I dread that I would get a gig where I'm asked to perform a task I've never done before. And the chance of that is pretty damn high, because that's essentially what any creative job is about. Problem solving.
There's almost an infinite amount of things that I've never modelled, painted or sculpted. So it's impossible to be ready for whatever gets thrown at you.
What if you get tasked with a texture and you simply can't paint it?
What if your sculpting is actually really slow compared to industry standards?
There's so many parameters, how can you possibly know when you're ready?
Replies
In hindsight, though... In that situation, you're all on your own without any guidance.
Would that actually be a backwards approach? Is it more reasonable to try to get into a studio, and freelance later once you have a good amount of experience in the industry?
You'll be in an environment with other people who you can draw from, and there's always Polycount, or Google. The sooner you get more comfortable with finding or coming up with solutions the better.
Last year, I thought it would have taken 5 years to to get a job in the industry. Today, it feels like I could apply anytime.
The reason I'm waiting is I need to sharpen my skills. I'm still very behind when texturing. I need to model more complex objects. However, I at least get the gist of what being a 3D artist is like instead of being "oh my god, how am I suppose to do anythingz!?!?!?"
Edit: Oh yeah. And I still need to learn Zbrush/Mudbox.
http://www.polycount.com/2014/08/22/polycount-recap-31/
You need to have something that people go 'oh shoot you need to see this!" or something like that. Every person I personally know that's gotten their first job in the past 2-3 years has a piece in a recap (ok maybe not all but 90%). Competition is stiff and there's a ton of new aspiring Artists coming out weekly so you need to be hungry and have some killer work.
Then you also need to make art that the studios want. Realistic art is a big thing these days, to know everything about PBR workflow and make sure you can be smart and efficient in how you work.
Looking at your work I can say that you could be in the games industry right now as a junior. However you still have to go head to head with all the other aspiring juniors out there. They're setting the bar really high.
So yeah, start making more realistic art and try to end up in the re-cap
usually after three cups of coffee, and some form of seared meat sammich.
Why get out of bed?
Why even open your eyes?
If your afraid to fail then your afraid to live.
I'd make the distinction though that it's about the fear of failing an employer much more so than the act of failing. In hindsight it may be a silly topic, but most similar topics are about students wanting to get into the industry, while there's almost no talk about what happens next, when you've got the job.
Maybe there's a reason for that though, but I don't know.
Thanks for all the answers! Hopefully other people got some use of it aswell, I know I did!
You'll be pushed to your limits working in studio which will improve your skill and your work speed even further.
Maybe. But there are a lot of good/great artists who feel like impostors, despite some degree of artistic success.
I think sometimes what is more needed is to get into a high-class artistic environment where you're working with other really good artists, and find a way to contribute.
As of right now, I'm only going to start applying once I am able to create work that is equal or better to the guys doing AAA scenes. I think it's becoming easier and easier with all of this new awesome software too so there's no reason not to shoot that high.
So I guess to answer your question from someone who isn't in the industries perspective make awesome stuff then apply (and from the looks of your folio you are there)
I know it well since there was one studio I wanted to work at. and for 5 months I was all like "i'm not good enough yet". What eventually happened is, the position got filled and offer disappeared from their site.
And with freelance you also shouldn't wait too long.
The earlier you start the faster you will get experienced at being freelancer.
Contrary to the popular opinion I don't think it's a bad idea to do a bunch of jobs for hobbyist devs, even if the pay isn't great.
Why? This way when a big company contacts you and asks you how you usually handle this or that, about your payment preferences, iterations, work speed etc etc you can actually answer them based on your previous experiences.
It will be easier to write emails like a professional, easier to negotiate etc.
Without having those experiences beforehand you most likely won't even know what your preferences are; and if company notices that they might end up not choosing you for the job.
Which will probably hurt more than indie team deciding not to choose you for a small job.
The idea is to make the worst mistakes as quick as possible, at the stage where they don't make a big impact yet.
I kind of disagree. A studio isn't a school, it's a job. There's some learning and nurturing going on, sure, but you're also there to get shit done and ship games.
This!
Should you put this on your portfolio if you have?
You have a solid portfolio that is well presented and shows a diversity of techniques (modeling, texturing, lighting, hand painting, set-decking, composition) as well as an attention to detail. I would hire you for a junior/staff environment artist position if I had one to offer (assuming you weren't some variety of monster in your interview).
That said:
To be an artist in the game industry you will need to always keep getting better. The best and brightest that I have worked with have never given up on teaching themselves new things, developing new skills, creating new art and learning new programs with which to do so.
You will get better, you will get faster.
Expect to be challenged, expect to be asked to try and do new things, and be excited about it. If you are not, you may want to look into doing something else, because that is what it will take.
You will have to be flexible, think about the problem, ask questions, experiment a bit, analyze what works and what doesn't. At the end of it, you'll know what went well and what went wrong, and you'll be a much better artist. The next time something similar comes up, you will be even better. And if something strange comes again, you might be able to use some knowledge you learned that time. That's pretty much what this job is all about, learning and improving, being flexible. Hell, I will guarantee that after some time, you will crave those opportunities to work on something completely new!
It's normal to have doubts when you begin, I was like you not so long ago. Working my ass off in my room in Belgium, not doing anything else than learning and working on my portfolio. I only sent applications in Belgium and France because I considered that I wasn't ready for the big pond. It took me 2.5 years, half unemployed and half working outside of the gaming industry per-see (serious game, 3D for museum, ...). In the end I worked on a final environment and decided that it was time to launch myself abroad. The first interesting job offer suited to a new guy was a job at a undisclosed company, I took it, and here I am working at Rocksteady Studios.
Was I wrong to wait so long? Who knows, it doesn't really matter anyway. Everything you do is important if you want to work in the game industry. As long as you are not slacking of all day long watching anime/Netflix, you are advancing towards your goal. Keep working, keep learning, and send applications. It's important to realize that everything you learn will make you a better artist.
It's one of the thing I realized along the way. I was focused entirely on my skills, but that's not the only thing that matters. Your work is important, but so is your personality, your knowledge of yourself, your ability to write a cover letter, your ability to express yourself in an interview, you ability to work in a team, your ability to endure shitty behavior from the higher-ups, your ability to smile to small things.
Don't focus too much on landing the perfect job (if it even exists), just advance. Sending applications will make you better at writing cover letter. Working in jobs outside of the pure game industry will teach you a lot about yourself, what you want and what you don't want. You'll make connections too, and a bit of money on the side. A good job in the gaming industry won't fall on you from the sky, you have to make it happen. You will never know how much time it will take. But if you keep working hard, it will always get nearer to you.
And after you get that first job, it's on to the next step. And so on and so on. It's all about learning from everything you do, on every levels. To me anyway.
Everyone who gets hired is hired for their talent and personality. But if there are struggles they find themselves at. They should be always encouragement to allow the talent to openly state when they feel not as strong, for specific things. Where someone who is right there working with them should be able to keep an encouraging mentality. I really cannot see how I can be in anyway wrong about this? Because yeah duh, we get paid to build games. If we didn't, we would be fired... Though helping another brother out isn't something that should be frowned upon. Sometimes I think there's a bit of prejudice or biased attitudes about people who seem weak.
If everyone worked under your belief structure, everyone would probably feel quite lonely on their efforts and operate in a very lone-wolf environment where they'd learn nothing new, or re-learn the things that may have been forgotten.
Some places would see his as an accomplishment. Others, yeah could see it as bragging. Personally I don't think you need to add a sticker gif to your portfolio on this page or something. I meant more of that's where the bar is quality wise.